Running Head: HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THEORY

History of Management Theory

Troy Thompson

5409 Foxglove Drive, Bossier City, LA 71112

318-918-7413

Troythompson98@yahoo.com

MSM 500

May 21, 2010

Class Instructor: Dr. David Bouvin

Ellis University

Introduction
People and processes are the main elements under management purview, and it is interesting to learn how managerial philosophy pertaining to these two elements has evolved from the Industrial Revolution throughout the Progression Era and into the modern workplace. The purpose of this paper will focus on Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management, also known as the Taylor System, and Elton Mayo’s Human Relations business models and how they relate to this
This left room for the work of Elton Mayo to yield fruition. Elton Mayo (Human Relations) Elton Mayo became famous through the Western Electric Company research project. The initial purpose of the project was to find ways to improve worker productivity. He and his team looked at how lighting, rest breaks, room temperature, etc. affected worker productivity (Mayo, 2006). Through his research, he found a distinct discovery knows as the "Hawthorne Effect", which described an increase in output by workers who perceived that they are being watched and studied somehow (Mayo, 2006). Mayo viewed the Hawthorne Effect as a symptom of a bigger issue. He then diverted from his original hypothesis of physical factors to the examination the socio-political factors. What he found was that employees valued acceptance by their peers more than anything else (Mayo, 2006). Also unique about Mayo’s observations was the paradigm-burst that employees were not motivated primarily due to compensation, but were motivated primarily due to job satisfaction; this, of course, was a stark difference in Taylor’s theory that men were motivated best when they were given wages that were commensurate with their skill level. In support of Mayoism, as his principles later became known for, I applaud his principles of human relations that captured the essence of the Progressive Era in that they advanced employee respect in the workplace. Due